[Negative pressure pulmonary oedema and pulmonary haemorrhage following upper airway obstruction]

Although well described in the literature, negative pressure pulmonary oedema is an uncommon and often unrecognized pathology. It dramatically develops in healthy subjects, following a sudden obstruction of the upper airway. The strongly negative intra thoracic pressures developed during the inspiratory efforts is then responsible for the formation of pulmonary oedema secondary to increased pulmonary blood volume and hydrostatic pressure. In rare cases, alveolar hemorrhage is observed due to rupture of the alveolar-capillary barrier. This condition is illustrated by the case of a 6 year old child who presented an obstruction of the upper airway in the aftermath of inhaling an inflatable balloon. The evolution was rapidly favorable.